A VANISHING OPPORTUNITY

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16485, 26 February 1914, Page 6

A VANISHING OPPORTUNITY

The last number of the New Zealand Gazette shows that the demand for the extension of the Tongariro National Park has been made none too soon. We are a little afraid, indeed, that it has been made too late. The present area of the park is contained within two circles drawn round the summits of the mountains Tongariro and Ngauruhoe, and consists almost entirely of barren, volcanic slopes. The wooded areas which make the district so attractive to the tourist and the scientist lie outside the circles though many visitors fail to realise that fact, and the Government does not seem to have turned a sympathetic ear to the suggestion that the park should be completed by the inclusion of all the mountain, slopes, which cannot be of much value for farming purposes when the trees have been removed. » Now the "Gazette" announces that the timber land to the east and south of Rangatriua township, on the main trunk railway, is going to be placed at the disposal of the sawmillers. The upset prico is to be £IB4O, and the quantity of timber available is estimated at 3,287,000 superficial feet. Rangataua station is situated pratically at the foot of the mountains, and the removal of the bush at that point will mean an immediate loss of scenic effect. The sacrifice, we fear, will not stop there if the Government delays to fix the boundaries of the park with a proper regard for national interests. Experience has sliown that the sawmiller is not easily moved when once he has got a footing in a bush area, and if his operations are unchecked he may sweep the mountain slopes clear within the next few years. Then the opportunity to preserve in its natural condition a portion of an extraordinarily interesting mountain area will have passed for ever. Wo hope that the members of Parliament who have concerned themselves about this matter will move energetically while there is time. The removal of the timber from the area mentioned in the "Gazette" may be a very proper step, but no person who has visited the Tongariro district will be able to regard the proposal without anxiety while the National Park remains in its present incomplete condition.